Mom, Writer, Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)

Why?

This morning, I realized that I’ve spent the past six years either pregnant or breastfeeding.

And for the past three and a half years, I’ve donated my spare time counseling breastfeeding moms on the phone, in their homes, and at monthly breastfeeding support meetings.

Over the summer, I sat for the International Board of Lactation Consultants Exam. I passed. Yay! I’m planning to start a very part-time private lactation consulting practice in the next year, taking on more and more clients as my children get older.

I think a lot about breastfeeding and motherhood. A whole lot. So I decided to start a blog where I can record some of my thoughts and experiences as a breastfeeding mom and breastfeeding helper.

I’m a writer too. I mostly write poems (some of which can be found here), but I write book reviews and articles sometimes too. My first book of poems was published in 2004, and I have another book of poems coming out next summer. There are lot of breasts and babies in the new book. I’m hoping writing this blog will help me feel less guilty about how difficult it is to write while taking care of young children. Of course, that means I have to write in the blog too, so we’ll see how that goes. I will write when I can.

Here’s my first son nursing. He was two or three here. One of my most favorite topics in breastfeeding is extended breastfeeding and natural weaning. I hope to write about that here sometime.

And here’s my family soon after the birth of my new baby. I had the joy of watching my baby do the breast crawl and self-attach right after birth. One of the topics I’m passionate about is the importance of babies coming to the breast as soon as possible after birth. It didn’t happen with my first son (despite a wonderful homebirth and an excellent team of midwives), and he nursed poorly for the first few days. Studies have shown the importance of the first hour after birth (here’s one interesting study), and how nursing in the first hour correlates with better breastfeeding success even months later.

Next to me is the bowl of vegan lasagna I ate right after the new baby’s birth. I craved lasagna the whole last trimester!